Mad Max and the Expendables
by YouRang
Summary: Gunner and Kenzie's twins are nineteen and the newest members of the Expendables. Their numbers are down and new blood is brought in. Max is instantly taken with the new tall, dark and handsome recruit, but will this put her at odds with her father and the family? Rated M for all the usual stuff. Read and review, let me know what you think! Gunner Jensen/Original characters.
1. Chapter 1

"We need more people." Lee growled.

Max looked up, glanced between the two speakers, her uncle Lee and John Smilee, and dropped her attention back to the clips she was reloading; this was an old argument, and Max had never liked reruns.

Smilee shook his head. "No, we have enough with the twins now."

Her head still tipped forward, Max smiled. As a young child, her twin brother, Gage had shown a real aptitude for computers and so Thorn, the Expendables resident computer genius/hacker, took him under his wing and started teaching him everything he knew; then Lee had started instructing Max on how to handle knives. As the twins grew, and it became obvious that Gage was going to grow as large as their dad, additional training was added. Toll and Caesar taught Gage combat, explosives and heavy weaponry. Luna trained Max in her Judo-style fighting techniques and Galgo added his own parkour-inspired moves. Mars worked with both twins on their boxing, and Gunner made sure both his children were more than proficient with a sniper rifle. Now, at nineteen, the twins were deadly and the newest members of the Expendables.

Lee shook his head. "Nah, Thorn and Luna are retiring; and I'm leaving too." Lee had retired before the twins were born, but, citing boredom, declared himself only semi-retired, and started accepting jobs again.

Smilee opened his mouth to reply, but Lee wasn't finished and, crossing his arms over his chest, he frostily delivered his coup de grace. "And you still haven't replaced Mars and Galgo."

Max snapped her head up and stared at her uncle with wide, disbelieving eyes. Just over a year ago, on a job that started out bad and only got worse, Mars was killed; shot through the heart by the very man they'd be sent to take out. The aim had been true, and Mars had been dead before he'd hit the floor. That same job, only a few minutes later, Galgo was forced to leap out a window to avoid a concussion grenade. He'd missed his landing and plunged two stories to the ground below, shattering his pelvis and most of his left side and effectively ending his career with the Expendables. Defying the doctor's predictions, Galgo had lived and could even walk again, but he had a hellacious limp, his left leg a full two inches shorter than the right, and his body was now riddled with arthritis. Even now, months later, this was a subject you didn't speak about flippantly in the shop.

Biting her trembling lower lip, Max lowered her gaze again, shaking slightly, her eyes tearing up. Unable to deal, Max had turned to drugs and like everything Max did; she jumped in with both feet. She fell hard and fast, and within weeks was a ghost around the Family, as the team often referred to themselves. Eight months ago, the uncles had intervened, dragging Max quite literally kicking and screaming to Gunner's cottage on the bayou, lived in for years by Thorn and Luna until their family had outgrown it, and now rented by Smilee. For three days Max shivered and shuddered and sweated on rubber sheets, curling into a ball on her side as much as the restraints would allow. She'd finally settled, and began her recovery.

Although she had both the Family's forgiveness and trust again, Max still had not forgiven herself, and worked hard everyday to prove to herself that she was worthy. She hadn't even touched a Tylenol in the last eight months, and took on the most mundane chores at the shop as penance.

Smilee opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "I'll see if Gun's got any new names." His voice was edged with pain. Turning on his heel, he left the tattoo shop.

Blinking rapidly, Max tentatively looked back up at Lee. He was watching her with sympathy, sadness and anger in his eyes and Max realized just how strongly he felt about building up the team, how he'd not wanted to bring up those names in front of Max, but felt he had no choice.

"It'll be alright kid." Lee said roughly, and then followed Smilee out.

Max dropped her head again, breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. Fuck, she wanted to get high. She fought the cravings daily, but this was something else. She knew if she got up and left the shop, climbed in her Scout and drove twelve blocks away over the river, stopped at the Palms Apartments and knocked on 2B that a guy named Smith would answer, and he was always good for a gram. That would stop the pain, start her floating and forgetting. Dimly she heard the man door open again and glanced over, biting back a groan as she saw her father, Gunner Jensen walk into the shop. Since Max's fall into drugs, her relationship with her dad, always so good; she'd always been Daddy's Little Girl, had soured. They fought whenever they were together now, Max forever defensive and on edge, sure that her dad was judging her and finding her lacking, embarrassed that she hadn't been strong enough to resist the siren song. Kenzie, her mom and Gunner's wife, tried to mediate, explaining to Max that her and her dad were so much alike, and that was why they now butted heads, but Max had had enough, and a few weeks ago had moved out, now rented Smilee's old apartment above the shop. Gage followed a few days later, renting Mar's old rooms, not out of any tension with their parents, but because he'd always tried to protect Max and keep her safe. A large part of Max's continued guilt, she was coming to realize, was because she felt she'd disappointed her brother.

Unwillingly, Max looked up and met her father's eyes. He was watching her carefully. The look on his face said he knew exactly how badly Max wanted to get loaded, and he understood all too well. Max felt something let go inside of her, suddenly wanted nothing more than to stand up, run to her daddy's arms and cry against his chest, feel his arms strong around her, his hand stroke her hair as he murmured that everything would be okay. He'd always been her rock, the one she'd ran to as a child when she'd gotten hurt or scared and it came crashing down on her like a cold wave just how much she missed that. Max opened her mouth to speak when a terrific crash came from the stairwell and both Jensens reacted instantly.

Gunner pulled a knife from his belt, not the machete-like Bowie he'd carried before, but a nasty little pig sticker all the same. Max, stepping instantly into shooter's stance, yanked her handgun from her thigh holster and waited.

A string of curses, mingled Spanish and English, reached their ears and, with a sharp exhalation and a wry glance at each other, the Jensens relaxed, replacing their weapons. Max smiled at her new toy, a matte black .45 Kimber with an 'MM' for Mad Max engraved at the bottom of the hot pink grips before she holstered it. It was a birthday gift from the Family and Max loved it.

Galgo, still swearing heartily, emerged from the stairwell and stopped, swaying slightly when he saw Gunner and Max standing there.

"Aww, Mr. Gunner and Mad Max. I tell you, I could be a weatherman. This _puta_ can always tell when it's going to rain." Indifferently, he thumped his leaden left leg and Max winced. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her dad looking at her again, but the moment was gone and Max turned away.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi! Sorry this chapter took so long, thanks for sticking with it :)**

Ten days later, the team convened at the shop. Gunner, Lee, John and Galgo had returned late the night before from Jamaica, where they'd flown to a few days previous to see a potential recruit.

Max had managed to fight her cravings and stay clean since that day at the shop, had hit the gym relentlessly to distract herself until she'd managed to pull most of the muscles in her right shoulder four days ago and now sat painfully on the couch beside Gage, waiting for the meeting to start. Tensor bands held an ice pack to her injured shoulder, covering the dark bruises that had developed. Max, half stubbornly and half fearfully, refused painkillers even now and instead relied on gentle massages from her mom to combat the unrelenting pain.

"Have you talked to Dad since he got back?" Gage asked, turning his head to look at Max.

Max returned the stare. Gage was damn near Gunner's twin in size and features, looked nearly identical to old pictures of him; but he'd inherited their mom's chocolate brown hair and eyes and it made for a stunning combination. Max was the opposite, having Kenzie's body and looks, with Gunner's fair hair, Nordic complexion and striking blue eyes. Gage had their mother's almost Zen-like preternatural calm; a direct contrast to Max, who was her father through and through. The team had learned years ago to never dare Max to do anything, because she would, no matter how dumb or dangerous. She'd stopped counting her stitches and scars years ago.

"No, why?"

Gage shrugged, looking away. "Just wondering. You can't stay mad forever...I don't even know why you're pissed at him anyway."

Max curled her lip, biting back a snide remark. "Doesn't matter." She finally muttered.

Gage turned to look at Max again. She met his eyes briefly before looking away. Gage may have had their mom's brown eyes, but sometimes the look in them was pure Gunner.

"I think it does." He said lowly.

"Just drop it Gage, please." Max asked. "Shhh, they're here."

"Later." Gage promised then turned his attention to the four men who had just entered the shop and now stood in front of everyone. Kenzie had come in with Gunner, their arms around each other's waists and Max bit back a small smile. In her mid-fifties now, Kenzie was still a looker, as beautiful as she'd been when she'd first met Gunner and fallen in love. She had a few laugh lines now and had cut her hair to shoulder length, but she still drew open-mouthed stares when she went out. And, like when she'd first met Gunner, she still ignored those stares, having eyes only for her man.

Max watched her dad for a moment. Despite her feelings right now, she had to admit that he still cut an impressive figure. Although in his seventies, Gunner was still hale and hearty, as big and muscular and intimidating as when he'd been a mercenary, thanks to thrice weekly trips to the gym and an active lifestyle. His hair had a few streaks of grey and his skin a few more crags, but he was still a handsome man.

Max had always been a daddy's girl, completely convinced that the sun rose and set on him and Gage's quiet words stirred a whisper of that devotion now.

Gunner glanced over at the twins and did a double-take at seeing Max's shoulder. He moved to stand but Kenzie pulled him back down and leaned her head towards him. Pulling his gaze from Max, he replied to Kenzie and glanced back, shaking his head. Kenzie shook her head in return, her hand resting on his forearm and Gunner unwillingly subsided. His eyes met Max's and she tried to ignore the concern she saw in them. Setting her jaw, she looked away. Shaking her head slightly to interrupt old memories she was working hard to keep buried, Max looked around at the assembled crew.

Although they didn't work actively with the team anymore Toll, Caesar and Doc were here, sitting around the card table. Toll and Caesar's used bookstore/coffee house was thriving, they didn't even actively need to manage it anymore, had handed it off to a trusted employee and instead they went to the gym with Gunner and stopped by the shop and hung out with their wives. Sixteen years ago, after a four-year long- distance relationship; Tara, Kenzie's friend from Manhattan moved down the city and married Toll Road. They didn't have any kids, but they did have dogs; yappy little pocket dogs and one baying Bloodhound, and an open-door invitation for any of the nieces or nephews to come by anytime. Doc had worked on the team for another eight years after Kenzie and Gunner married, then retired and opened the men's clothing store he'd always talked about, where he sold nothing but 'fine threads'. He'd become famous, with some pretty high-end celebrities as his clients.

Thorn and Luna were here too, despite having plans to retire soon. Luna sat at the card table and laughed with them, sharing old stories, while Thorn had stood and moved over to talk with Gunner and the others. The team had ran through more than their fair share of mercenaries after the old guard retired, some only lasting until the first paycheque before leaving, others dying on the job. The only one who'd stayed was Eddie 'Red' Barron, a laidback Canadian transplant full of dirty jokes and rusty laughter, but utterly unshakeable and rock solid on a job.

Barney wasn't there, but Max wasn't surprised. After Tool died in his sleep ten years ago, warm next to his woman just liked he'd wanted to go out, Barney had slowly stepped back. He spent most of his time at his home, a secluded bayou cottage about a half-hour up the coast; and rarely made the trip into the city anymore. He was still good for a drink and cigar if you took the time to drive up there, but he enjoyed his solitude, had taken up painting as a hobby, and could often be found relaxing in an Adirondack chair out on his deck over the swamp, eyes half closed to the setting sun, thoughts far away.

"Alright, listen up!" John barked, bringing the meeting to order. Thorn took a seat next to Red, grinned and nudged him with a shoulder.

"As you all know Lee, Gunner, Galgo and I were down in Jamaica for a few days, checking out a potential recruit. He seems alright, think we're going to try him out. He's twenty-four, Russian born. Name's Konstantin Alexander Romanov, goes by 'Kon'. Father unknown, but mother is Ileana Romanov, which some of you know as the most successful and some say the most brutal female assassin the KGB has ever produced. She left the agency when Kon was eight, went freelance and brought the kid on as partner when he was sixteen. His skill list is as long as your arm, he's a good all-rounder and will fit in anywhere we need him. He's tying up loose ends down on the island right now, and we've got that job in Ecuador coming up next week, so we'll swing by and pick him up on the way down. Max, you're obviously sitting this one out." Max nodded tightly. "Any questions? Good. Meeting adjourned." The semi-professional air of the gathering immediately changed to a relaxed get-together, with Red leaning over to turn up the stereo before turning back to talk to Thorn.

Gage got up and walked over to talk to John and Lee, and Gunner stood and made his way directly over to the couch Max still sat on. Groaning, Max tried to stand and leave, but the springs on that side had busted last month when Toll and Caesar had started rough-housing and fallen onto it and she couldn't get away in time to avoid him. Slowly, aware of the powder keg Max was capable of being, Gunner sat down beside her, and for a minute, said nothing.

"Are you alright Max?" He finally asked quietly.

"I'm fine, dad." Max replied shortly. She moved to stand again, but Gunner's hand soft on her knee stopped her. She turned her head unwilling to meet his steady gaze.

"What did I do, that you're so mad at me all the time?" He asked, his voice soft. Max tried to ignore the faint hurt and confusion she heard laced in his deep voice that she knew he was trying to hide.

Blowing out a breath of exasperation; Max could hardly explain to herself, let along Gunner, the tangle of emotions that twisted around her every time she was near him; Max gritted her teeth and tried again to stand. "Just leave it." She managed to gain her feet, but wavered slightly as she straightened; a sharp stabbing pain shooting from her damaged shoulder across her back and down her spine.

Gunner's hand gently touched Max's elbow, steadying her and Max fought the irrational impulse to jerk her arm away.

"I'm fine, dad." She repeated, her voice sharper than she meant it to be; fortunately, the party around them was too loud for anyone else to hear. Glancing reluctantly over her shoulder, she stormed away, biting her lip, finding her eyes were starting to sting. The puzzled pain on Gunner's face as she walked away from him was getting harder to overlook.


End file.
